Short  History  of  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia 

By 

Edward  J^.mes  Nolan 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


A 

HORT    HISTORY 


y  of  Natural  Sciences 


PHILADELPHIA 


EDWARD   J.  NOLAN,  M.D, 

Recording  Secretary  and  Librarian 


PHILADELPHIA 

THE  ACADEMY  OF  NATURAL  Sci, 

DECEMBER,  1909 


fj^r^^^^^^^^Y  s2T*L- -Z. 


A 

SHORT   HISTORY 


OP  THE 


Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 


PHILADELPHIA 


BY 

EDWARD   J.  NOLAN,  M.D. 

Recording  Secretary  and  Librarian 


PHILADELPHIA 

THE  ACADEMY  OF  NATURAL  SCIENCES 
DECEMBER,  1909 


qt-U 


npHIS  brief  history  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 

of  Philadelphia  was  prepared  as  a  contribution  to 

the  volume  issued  in  commemoration  of  Founders'  Week, 

so  successfully  celebrated  from  the  fourth  to  the  tenth  of 

^  October,  1908. 

fO  The  length  of  the   article  was   determined  by  the 

number  of  pages  available  in  the  distribution  of  the  matter 

composing  the  book  and  the  story  is,  therefore,  necessarily 

I  "short."    The  Notices  of  Morton  and  Euschenberger  have 

been  of  assistance  in  preparing  the  earlier  portion. 

The  sketch  may  be  regarded  as  merely  preliminary 

^  to  a  detailed  history  of  the  Academy  to  be  issued  in 

-   ^  connection  with  the  proposed  celebration  of  the  Cente- 

g  nary  of  the  society  in  1912.     It  is  sent  out  in  this  form 

^  with  the  hope  that  it  will,  by  eliciting  comment,  criti- 

£-£  cism,  and  perhaps  correction,  help  to  make  the  larger 

*l          work  of  more  permanent  value.     Any  assistance  to  this 

end  will  be  gratefully  accepted  by  the  author. 


EDWARD  J.  NOLAN 


THE  ACADEMY  OF  NATURAL  SCIENCES 
OF  PHILADELPHIA,  November,  1909. 


310140 


The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia 

By  EDWARD  J.  NOLAN,  M.D. 

As  for  the  Corruptions  and  Moths  of  History,  which  are  Epitomes, 
the  use  of  them  deserveth  to  be  banished  as  all  men  of  sound  judgment 
have  confessed. — Bacon,  "Advancement  of  Learning." 

ALTHOUGH  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  Phila- 
delphia was  acknowledged  to  be  the  center  of  scientific,  if  not 
of  literary  culture  in  America,  there  were  not  many  societies 
in  the  city  devoted  to  scientific  research.  The  American  Philosoph- 
ical Society  had,  indeed,  established  for  itself  an  honorable  position 
in  the  learned  world,  but  membership  was  scarcely  aspired  to  by 
those  who  had  no  right  in  any  sense  to  consider  themselves  philos- 
ophers. The  "Botanical  Society,  held  at  Philadelphia,"  had  been 
founded  in  1806,  the  name  being  changed  the  following  year  to  the 
"Philadelphia  Linna3an  Society."  It  had  a  brief  and  uneventful 
existence  and  is  at  present  remembered  from  the  publication  of  an 
essay  by  Benjamin  Smith  Barton,  entitled  "Discourse  on  some 
Principal  Desiderata  in  Natural  History." 

There  were  but  few  who  cared  anything  about  the  natural 
sciences,  and  these  had  to  contend  with  many  difficulties.  Neither 
cabinets  to  awaken  curiosity  nor  libraries  to  satisfy  it  were  in  exist- 
ence. There  were  two  or  three  collections  of  minerals  belong- 
ing to  gentlemen  who  had  brought  them  from  Europe,  but  they  were 
not  accessible  to  the  public. 

A  few  young  men  in  the  city  were,  however,  interested  in  the 
study  of  nature.  They  were  all  engaged  during  the  day  in  making 
a  living,  and  they  must  have  found  that  occasional  gossip  in  places 
of  resort  available  to  those  of  their  social  condition  would  not  help 
them  much  in  the  search  for  exact  knowledge. 

After  one  of  these  accidental  meetings  early  in  1812,  John 
Speakman  suggested  to  his  friend  Jacob  Gilliams  that  if  their 
associates  could  come  together  at  stated  times  where  they  would  be 
free  from  interruption  and  could  compare  notes  as  to  what  they 
supposed  they  knew,  they  would  secure  more  pleasure  and  profit 
than  by  desultory  talk.  Gilliams  agreed  with  him,  and  before  they 


6  The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 

separated  it  was  decided  to  invite  such  friends  as  might  be  favorable 
to  the  formation  of  ,a  society  to  meet  at  Speakman's  house  the  fol- 
lowing Saturday  night. 

In  accordance  with  this  agreement  Doctors  Gerard  Troost  and 
Camillus  Macmahon  Mann,  with  Jacob  Gilliams,  John  Shinn,  Jr., 
and  Nicholas  S.  Parmentier,  met  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Speakman,  on 
the  northwest  corner  of  Market  and  Second  Streets,  on  Saturday 
evening,  January  25,  1812.  Mr.  Speakman  acted  as  chairman,  and 
Dr.  Mann  as  secretary.  ^  The  minutes  are  described  as  those  of  "a 
meeting  of  gentlemen,  friends  oL science  and  of  rational  disposure 
of  leisure  moments,"  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  exclusive  object 
of  the  society  should  be  the  cultivation  of  the  natural  sciences. 

This  was  the  humble  origin  of  The  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences  of  Philadelphia.  Although  there  is  abundant  evidence  in 
the  records  and  in  tradition  that  the  founders  took  themselves 
seriously  and  were  conscious  of  the  dignity  of  their  undertaking,  it 
is  scarcely  conceivable  that  they  could  have  anticipated  the  future 
development  of  their  society  into  one  of  the  most  active  and 
influential  scientific  associations  of  the  world. 

In  order  not  to  be  a  burden  on  Mr.  Speakman's  hospitality,  the 
next  two  or  three  meetings  were  held  at  a  public  house  on  Market, 
or  High  Street,  near  the  corner  of  Franklin  Place,  known  as  Mercer's 
Cake  Shop.  The  title,  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  was  employed 
for  the  first  time  in  the  minutes  of  March  21,  1812,  and  was  sug- 
gested opportunely  by  Dr.  Samuel  Jackson,  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania.  He  had  not  joined  the  society  because,  it  is  said,  he 
feared  that  in  the  estimation  of  the  public  all  its  members  would  be 
considered,  however  unjustly,  as  lacking  in  proper  respect  for 
religion,  a  supposition  which  might  be  detrimental  to  a  physician  at 
the  outset  of  his  career.  It  was  decided  that  the  origin  of  the 
Academy  should  date  from  that  session  and  that  in  subsequent  years 
the  anniversary  should  be  observed  on  that  day. 

At  this  meeting  Thomas  Say  was  chosen  a  member,  and  it  was 
determined  that,  although  he  had  not  attended  the  initial  meetings, 
his  name  should  be  enrolled  as  one  of  the  founders,  who  are,  there- 
fore, recorded  as  being  John  Speakman,1  Jacob  Gilliams,1  John 
Shinn,  Jr.,  Nicholas  Parmentier,  Dr.  Gerard  Troost,1  Dr.  Camillus 
Macmahon  Mann  and  Thomas  Say.1  It  was  John  Speakman  and 


i  Portraits  of  these  are  hung  in   the  library. 


The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  7 

Jacob  Gilliams,  however,  who  had  issued  the  invitation  for  the 
preliminary  meeting  and  the  conclusion  is  a  just  one  that  the 
foundation  of  the  Academy  is  ascribable  to  these  two  men. 

John  Speakman  was  born  in  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania,  and 
belonged  to  the  religious  society  of  Friends.  His  apothecary  shop  at 
the  northwest  corner  of  Second  and  Market  Streets  was  a 
center  of  literary  and  scientific  gossip.  He  was  for  a  time  in 
disastrous  partnership  with  Say  and  was  ever  ready  to  do  all  the 
work  of  the  shop  so  as  to  enable  his  friend  to  devote  almost  his  entire 
time  to  the  service  of  science.  Through  the  endorsement  of 
unreliable  friends  the  firm  came  to  an  unfortunate  end,  the  partners 
retaining  scarcely  anything  for  themselves.  As  late  as  1839  Mr. 
Speakman,  at  a  considerable  sacrifice  of  his  private  interests,  visited 
Mr.  Maclure  in  Mexico,  where  he  spent  several  months  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Academy. 

Mr.  Jacob  Gilliams  was  a  native  of  Philadelphia  and  a  leading 
dentist  of  the  day.  He  was  an  intimate  associate  of  Thomas  Say 
and  Alexander  Wilson,  and  when  the  latter  was  engaged  on  his 
American  Ornithology  the  three  friends  were  frequent  visitors  to 
Mr.  William  Bartram  at  his  house  attached  to  the  garden  which  has 
now  become  classic  ground. 

Mr.  John  Shinn,  Jr.,  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey.  He  was 
employed  as  a  manufacturing  chemist.  Soon  after  the  Academy 
was  established  in  the  new  hall  in  Gilliams'  Court  he  delivered  a 
course  of  lectures  on  chemistry,  the  first  given  under  the  auspices 
of  the  society. 

Mr.  Nicholas  S.  Parmentier  was  born  in  France.  He  was 
a  distiller  and  manufacturer  of  spermaceti  oil.  He  removed  to 
Florida. 

Gerard  Troost2  was  the  first  President  of  the  Academy  and 
served  efficiently  until  1817  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Maclure. 
He  was  born  in  Bois-le-Duc  in  Holland  and  educated  as  a  pharma- 
cist and  chemist.  He  settled  in  Philadelphia  in  1810.  In  1815  and 
1816  he  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  alum  on  the  Magothy  River 
in  Maryland.  On  his  return  to  the  city  he  delivered  lectures  on 
mineralogy  in  the  Philadelphia  Museum  and  the  College  of  Phar- 
macy. After  spending  two  years  with  his  friend  Maclure  at  New 
Harmony,  Ind.,  he  was  elected,  in  1828,  Professor  of  Chemistry, 


2  University  of  Tennessee,  Bulletin  of  Information,  v.,  6,  Jan.,  1907. 


8  The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 

Geology  and  Mineralogy  in  the  University  of  Nashville,  retaining 
the  position  until  his  death  August  17,  1850.  During  his  incum- 
bency he  served  as  State  Geologist  of  Tennessee  until  the  office  was 
abolished  in  1849. 

The  first  Recording  Secretary,  Dr.  Caniillus  Macmahon  Mann, 
was  born  in  Ireland.  He  was  "out"  in  the  rebellion  of  1798.  After 
a  stay  in  France  he  sought  refuge  in  the  United  States,  living  for  a 
time  in  Philadelphia,  and  later  edited  a  paper  in  Baltimore.  The 
date  of  his  death  is  uncertain. 

The  presence  of  Thomas  Say  at  a  meeting  is  first  recorded  on 
Thursday,  April  16,  1812.  Henceforth,  except  when  away  from  the 
city,  he  was  rarely  absent  from  a  session  of  the  society.  It  may  be 
claimed  that  the  continued  existence  of  the  Academy  was  in  great 
measure  due  to  his  devotion  and  the  dignity  he  was  able  to  give  the 
proceedings  by  the  high  character  of  his  scientific  work.  After  the 
failure  of  the  firm  of  Speakman  and  Say  he  resided  for  a  time  in  the 
hall  of  the  Academy,  accommodating  himself  heroically  to  his  ex- 
ceedingly cramped  means.  In  1825  he  accompanied  Mr.  Maclure 
to  New  Harmony.  The  communistic  experiment  in  which  they 
were  engaged  having  proved  a  failure  he  accompanied  Mr.  Maclure 
to  Mexico.  He  remained  there  for  twelve  months  and  was  then 
compelled  by  business  engagements  to  return  to  New  Harmony 
where  he  died  October  10,  1834,  in  his  forty-seventh  year.  Much 
the  greater  part  of  his  work  was  completed  before  he  left  Phila- 
delphia for  the  West.  In  his  new  home,  however,  his  business 
engagements  evidently  did  not  take  up  all  his  time  for  he  issued 
there  six  numbers  of  the  American  Conchology  and  several  papers, 
including  two  in  the  Annals  of  the  Maclurean  Lyceum. 

Say  was  a  born  naturalist.  He  troubled  himself  but  little 
about  relationships  and  classification,  confining  himself  almost 
entirely  to  the  determination  of  specific  distinctions  of  which  he 
had  an  unusually  acute  perception.  His  reports  of  original  re- 
searches were  the  first  to  replace  the  reading  of  extracts  from 
encyclopaedias  or  journals,  which  formed  the  attraction  at  the  earlier 
meetings.3 

About  the  first  of  April  a  small  room  on  the  second  floor  of  a 


3  An  appreciative  biography  of  Say,  by  George  Ord,  is  published  in 
connection  with  The  Complete  Writings  of  Thomas  Say  on  the  Entomology 
of  North  America,  edited  by  John  L.  Le  Conte,  M.D.  Another  by  Benjamin 
Homer  Coates  was  issued  under  the  auspices  of  the  Academy  in  1835. 


WILLIAM   MACLURE,   1763-1840. 


Academy  of  Natural  Sciences. 


The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  9 

house  on  the  east  side  of  Second  Street,  then  No.  121,  near  Kace 
Street,  was  rented.  Here  the  nucleus  of  the  present  library  and 
museum  was  formed.  Each  member  gave  something,  and  although 
the  "display  of  objects  of  science  was  calculated  rather  to  excite 
merriment  than  to  procure  respect"  the  result  formed  the  germ  of 
the  superb  library  and  museum  which  have  given  the  Academy  dis- 
tinction among  scientific  societies. 

On  the  fifteenth  of  August,  1812,  a  collection  of  minerals  con- 
taining about  2000  specimens,  previously  purchased  from  Dr.  Sey- 
bert  for  $750  by  Mr.  Speakman,  was  acquired  by  the  society,  and 
soon  after  Dr.  Troost  delivered  a  course  of  lectures  on  mineralogy  to 
the  members  and  others.  It  is  a  tradition  that  the  necessity  of  dis- 
charging the  indebtedness  incurred  by  the  purchase  of  the  Seybert 
minerals,  was  a  bond  of  union  during  the  first  year  or  two  of  struggle 
and  discouragement. 

The  collections,  meager  as  they  were,  soon  required  more  room 
and  in  September  of  the  same  year  they  were  removed  to  apart- 
ments in  the  upper  part  of  a  house  on  the  west  side  of  Second  Street, 
then  No.  78,  north  of  Arch.  These  quarters  were  called  the  Hall  of 
the  Academy.  So  little  interest  had  the  new  society  enlisted  that 
at  the  close  of  its  first  year  it  consisted  of  but  fourteen  members  and 
thirty-three  correspondents. 

During  the  following  two  years  the  museum  and  library  in- 
creased more  rapidly.  Lectures  on  entomology  were  delivered  by 
Mr.  Say  and  on  botany  by  Drs.  Waterhouse  and  Barnes. 

At  the  beginning  of  1815  increased  accommodation  was  again 
necessary  and  Mr.  Gilliams  built  a  hall  on  a  vacant  lot  in  the  rear 
of  his  father's  house  on  the  north  side  of  Arch  Street  east  of  Second. 
The  collections  were  removed  to  it  in  July.  The  first  period  of 
the  Academy's  existence  extended  from  its  foundation  to  this,  the 
first  exclusive  occupancy  of  a  building. 

As  far  as  regards  the  permanency  and  prosperity  of  the  society 
the  most  important  event  of  these  years  was  the  election  to  member- 
ship in  June,  1812,  of  William  Maclure  without  whose  help  it  would 
probably  not  have  been  possible  to  prolong  its  existence. 

In  1816,  a  constitution  was  adopted  and  the  society  was  legally 
incorporated  the  following  year. 

At  the  instance  mainly  of  Mr.  Maclure  the  Academy  decided  on 
the  publication  of  a  Journal,  the  first  number  of  which  was  placed 
before  the  meeting  held  May  20,  1817.  The  first  volume  was  issued 


10  The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 

under  great  discouragement  and  the  publication  was  suspended  until 
1821  when,  owing  to  the  industry  and  zeal  of  Dr.  Isaac  Hays,  it  was 
continued  without  incurring  further  indebtedness. 

In  November,  1817,  Standing  Committees  on  Zoology,  Botany, 
Mineralogy  and  Geology  were  appointed  for  the  first  time. 

Progress  was  not  very  rapid,  yet  at  the  close  of  1820  the  ques- 
tion of  enlarged  accommodation  once  more  presented  itself  for  con- 
sideration. At  that  time  there  were  one  hundred  members  and  one 
hundred  and  ninety  correspondents  on  the  roll.  A  committee  was 
appointed  in  1823  to  consider  the  best  means  of  obtaining  additional 
room.  It  was  not,  however,  until  1826  that  a  lot  of  ground  and  a 
building  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Twelfth  and  Sansom  .Streets 
(then  George's  Street)  were  purchased  for  $4,300.  The  building 
had  been  used  for  several  years  as  a  place  of  worship  by  a  society  of 
Swedenborgians,  and  to  fit  it  for  the  purposes  of  the  Academy  an 
expenditure  of  $1,700  was  required.  A  debt  of  $3,000  was  created 
and  up  to  August,  1837,  only  $300  of  the  amount  had  been  paid  off. 
Mr.  Maclure  then  gave  $5,000,  the  debt  was  liquidated  and  $2,300 
were  placed  at  interest  for  the  current  needs  of  the  institution,  the 
first  time  in  its  history  that  it  was  in  possession  of  such  a  surplus. 

A  first  meeting  was  held  in  the  new  hall  on  May  9,  1826.  In 
1828,  the  museum  was  open  to  the  public.  Since  that  time 
admission  to  the  collections  under  varying  conditions,  has  been  an 
important  factor  in  the  educational  resources  of  the  city. 

For  the  next  fourteen  years  the  prosperity  of  the  Academy  was 
uninterrupted,  although  its  resources  remained  extremely  meager 
compared  with  the  amount  and  character  of  the  work  accomplished. 
William  Maclure,  because  of  his  active  interest  in  the  society,  richly 
deserved  the  compliment  of  an  annual  re-election  as  President, 
although  his  prolonged  and  frequent  absence  from  the  city  made  it 
impossible  for  him  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  office.  George 
Ord,  as  Vice-President,  acted  as  his  zealous  and  efficient  substitute 
until  1834  when  he  was  succeeded  by  John  Price  Wetherill.  The 
other  Vice-President,  William  Hembel,  was  too  deaf  to  act  as 
presiding  officer. 

Among  the  successors  of  Dr.  Mann,  the  first  Eecording  Secre- 
tary, William  Hippolyte  Keating  is  distinguished  for  his  faithfulness 
and  efficiency.  He  served  from  January,  1822,  to  December,  1825, 
and  has  left  two  annual  reports  which  are  of  interest  as  indicating 
specifically  the  value  of  the  work  the  Academy  was  then  doing.  He 


The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  11 

relinquished  the  office  because  of  removal  from  the  city  and  was 
succeeded  by  Dr.  Samuel  George  Morton  who  served  until  1829. 

The  necessity  for  increased  room  becoming  yearly  more  press- 
ing, a  lot  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Broad  and  Sansom  Streets  was 
bought  on  the  twenty-second  of  April,  1839,  for  $13,333.  On 
Saturday  the  twentieth  of  May,  the  corner-stone  of  a  new  building 
was  laid  with  the  usual  ceremonies  by  Vice- Presidents  William 
Hembel  and  John  Price  Wetherill.  An  eloquent  address  was  made 
on  the  occasion  by  Walter  R.  Johnson4  who  had  been  one  of  the  most 
active  members  of  the  society  since  his  election  in  1827.  He  had 
been  a  Curator  in  1836  and  1837  and  subsequently  served  as  Corres- 
ponding Secretary  from  1841  to  1848.  The  building  was  forty-five 
feet  front  on  Broad  Street  by  eighty-five  feet  deep  on  Sansom  with 
an  elevation  of  fifty-five  feet.  It  at  first  consisted  of  a  single  saloon 
with  two  ranges  of  galleries,  beneath  which,  in  the  basement,  was  a 
lecture  room  to  accommodate  five  hundred  people.  The  value  of  the 
premises  at  the  corner  of  Twelfth  and  Sansom  Streets  had  appre- 
ciated and  the  property  was  sold  to  William  E.  Hanson  for  $10,950. 
The  means  for  the  erection  of  the  new  hall  were,  however,  chiefly 
derived  from  William  Maclure  who  subscribed  toward  the  object 
$20,000.  The  building  fund  was  largely  augmented  by  liberal  sub- 
scriptions from  members  and  others  interested  in  science. 

The  transfer  of  the  collections  and  library  was  made  at  a  cost  of 
$34,  several  of  the  members  giving  their  time  and  strength  to  the 
service  so  as  to  lower  the  expense  and  save  time.  One  of  the  most 
active  in  this  work  and  in  the  accumulation  of  the  building  fund  was 
William  S.  Vaux  who  had  been  elected  a  member  in  1834.  During 
the  rest  of  his  life  he  gave  devoted  attention  to  the  economic 
interests  of  the  Academy,  serving  continuously  as  Curator  from  1838, 
and  as  Vice-President  from  1860,  with  a  brief  interval,  until  his 
death  in  1882.  He  also  rendered  indispensable  service  as  a  member 
of  the  Publication  Committee  from  1840  and  as  treasurer  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Building  Fund  from  its  organization  in 
January,  1867. 

The  books  and  specimens  were  placed  in  the  saloon  on  the 
second  floor  and  here  the  first  meeting  was  held  on  the  18th  of 
February,  1840. 


*  Nat.  Encycl.  of  Am.  Biogr^,  xii,  260.     Barnard's  Am.  Journ.  Educa- 
tion, Dec.,  1858. 


12  The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 

The  death  of  William  Maclure5  on  the  23d  of  March,  1840, 
inflicted  on  the  society  the  greatest  loss  it  had  yet  sustained.  In 
addition  to  his  large  pecuniary  contributions,  he  had  given  in  1835 
a  selection  from  his  library  in  New  Harmony.  The  transfer  of  the 
collection,  amounting  to  2,259  volumes  and  an  extensive  series  of 
maps  and  charts,  had  been  safely  accomplished  by  Charles  Pickering, 
the  distinguished  author  of  the  Chronological  History  of  Plants,  who 
was  Librarian  of  the  Academy  from  1829  to  1833.  He  had  also  con- 
ducted the  transfer  and  arrangement  of  a  great  number  of  plants 
bequeathed  by  the  Rev.  Lewis  David  von  Schweinitz,  who  died  in 
1834. 

Mr.  Maclure  was  succeeded  in  the  Presidency  by  William 
Hembel6  who  had  been  elected  a  member  in  1825.  He  held  the 
office  from  December,  1840,  until  December,  1849.  His  adminis- 
tration was  uneventful.  In  the  hope  of  being  able  to  remedy 
impaired  hearing  resulting  from  an  attack  of  scarlet  fever  he  had 
studied  medicine  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  but  did  not 
graduate. 

Dr.  Morton  announced  to  the  meeting  held  June  16, 1840,  that  a 
bill  for  the  perpetual  exemption  of  the  property  of  the  Academy 
from  taxation  had  passed  both  houses  of  the  Legislature. 

The  first  annual  election  in  the  new  building  at  Broad  and  San- 
som  Streets  resulted  as  follows:  President,  William  Hembel; 
Vice-Presidents,  John  Price  Wetherill,  Samuel  Geo.  Morton,  M.D. ; 
Corresponding  Secretary,  Eobert  Bridges,  M.D.;  Recording  Secre- 
tary, A.  Denman  Chaloner,  M.D. ;  Librarian,  A.  L.  Elwyn,  M.D. ; 
Curators,  William  S.  Vaux,  John  S.  Phillips,  Eobert  Pearsall, 
George  C.  Leib,  M.D. 

In  March,  1841,  the  publication  of  the  Proceedings  was  com- 
menced. The  sessions  of  the  Academy  were  then  and  until  May, 
1903,  held  every  Tuesday  evening  throughout  the  year. 

A  most  important  event  in  the  history  of  the  society  was  the 
election  to  membership  on  July  29,  1845,  of  Dr.  Joseph  Leidy.  He 
published  the  first  of  a  brilliant  series  of  contributions  to  natural 
history  in  the  Proceedings  a  couple  of  months  later  and  for  the 
succeeding  forty-six  years  he  exerted  a  most  active  influence  on  the 
well-being  of  the  institution  in  every  department  of  its  administra- 

5  A  Memoir  of  William  Maclure,  by   Samuel  George  Morton,  M.D. 
Published  by  the  Academy,  1841. 

6  Simpson's  Lives  of  Eminent  Philadelphians,   1859,  p.  515. 


The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  13 

tion  until,  to  the  community  at  large,  the  names  of  Leidy  and  the 
Academy  were  inseparably  associated. 

At  the  stated  meeting  of  June  30,  1846,  Dr.  Morton  announced 
that  Dr.  Thomas  B.  Wilson,  having  purchased  the  famous  collection 
of  birds  of  the  Due  de  Eivoli,  embracing  10,000  specimens  mounted 
and  named,  was  desirous  of  arranging  them  in  the  museum.  In 
furtherance  of  Dr.  Wilson's  wishes  the  building  was  extended  thirty 
feet  westward  covering  all  the  ground  then  at  the  disposal  of  the 
society.  The  library  was  moved  from  the  second  floor  to  the  new 
room  at  the  west  end  of  the  basement  and  the  first  meeting  was  held 
in  it  May  4,  1847.  Vice- President  Morton  made  a  brief  address  of 
welcome  and  congratulation  on  taking  the  chair.  He  alluded  feel- 
ingly to  the  services  of  those  who  had  sustained  the  burden  during 
the  days  of  struggle  and  uncertainty  and  gave  credit  to  those  who 
were  then  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  Academy,  alluding 
especially  to  Dr.  Wilson  who  had  paid  the  entire  cost  of  the  extension 
to  the  building  but,  in  deference  to  his  modesty,  without  mentioning 
hfe  name.  Dr.  Wilson's  entire  collection  of  birds,  amounting  to 
26,000  mounted  specimens  and  2,000  skins,  until  then  on  deposit, 
was  presented  outright  in  1860.  The  ornithological  collection 
formed  the  most  attractive  feature  of  the  museum,  and  for  years 
gave  it  distinction  in  the  appreciation  of  the  public. 

While  the  collection  of  birds  was  Dr.  Wilson's  most  striking 
gift,  every  department  of  the  museum  and  library  received  important 
additions  from  him.  No  other  benefactor  of  the  Academy  has 
demonstrated  his  interest  in  its  welfare  with  such  active  personal 
exertion  or  with  such  self-sacrificing  labor.  His  name,  therefore, 
should  be  among  the  first  of  those  who  deserve  the  gratitude  of  the 
society.7 

A  second  series  of  the  Journal  in  quarto  was  begun  in  Decem- 
ber, 1847,  mainly  through  the  influence  and  on  the  urging  of  Dr. 
Wilson  who  subsequently  contributed  liberally  to  the  expenses  of 
illustration,  especially  of  the  fine  colored  plates  of  Cassin's  descrip- 
tions of  new  species  of  birds. 

In  1848,  there  were  on  the  lists  of  the  society  245  members  and 
520  correspondents.  The  most  active  workers  were  Samuel  George 
Morton,  John  Cassin,  Joseph  Leidy,  William  S.  Vaux,  Eobert 


7  A  Memoir  of  Thomas   Bellerby  Wilson,  M.D.     Proc.  Ent.  Soc.  of 
Phila.,  v.,  1865. 


14  The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 

Bridges,  John  Phillips,  William  Gambel,  Timothy  Abbott  Conrad, 
and  Samuel  Stehman  Haldeman. 

At  the  close  of  1849,  Mr.  Hembel  declined  a  renomination  for 
the  Presidency.  He  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Morton  who  had,  with 
few  exceptions,  presided  at  the  meetings  during  the  entire  incum- 
bency of  his  predecessor.  Dr.  Morton's  position  as  Vice-President 
was  filled  by  the  election  of  Dr.  E.  Egglesfield  Griffith,  the  accom- 
plished author  of  the  Medical  Botany.  He  died  in  1850. 

The  election  of  Dr.  Morton  to  the  Presidency  was  a  fitting 
recognition,  not  only  of  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century's  devoted 
service,  but  also  of  his  distinguished  rank  as  one  of  the  world's  most 
accomplished  ethnologists.  He  was  to  enjoy  the  well-merited  honor, 
which  was  the  ultimate  expression  of  the  Academy's  appreciation  of 
his  work,  for  less  than  eighteen  months.  He  presided  at  a  meeting 
for  the  last  time  on  .May  6,  1851,  and  died  on  the  15th  of  that 
month  in  his  fiftieth  year,  after  an  illness  of  four  days.  His  first 
work  was  in  geology  but  his  magnum  opus,  the  Crania  Americana, 
was  published  in  1839  and  has  been  properly  described  as  a  lasting 
monument  to  his  learning,  energy  and  ability.  His  last  paper  was 
on  the  size  of  the  brain  in  various  races  of  man  and  in  support  of  his 
belief  in  the  plurality  of  origin  of  mankind,  a  doctrine  to  which 
he  gave  unfaltering  support.8 

Dr.  Morton  was  succeeded  in  the  Presidency  by  George  Ord. 
He  had  served  as  Vice-President  from  1816  to  1834  and  as  Curator 
during  1816  and  1817.  He  belonged  to  the  old-fashioned  type  of 
naturalist  which  has  now  almost  entirely  disappeared.  His  favorite 
subjects  of  study  were  birds  and  mammals  although  he  did  not 
confine  his  attention  entirely  to  them.  He  acted  as  the  literary 
executor  of  his  friend  Alexander  Wilson.  His  contribution  to 
Guthrie's  Geography  is  regarded  as  the  first  systematic  work  on  the 
zoology  of  North  America  by  an  American.  His  biographies  of 
Wilson  and  Say  are  specimens  of  elegant  English  and  prove  him  to 
have  had  what  his  friend  Charles  Waterton  called  "a  polished  mind." 
Although  he  had  declared  as  far  back  as  1841  that  he  was  compelled 
by  the  encroaching  infirmities  of  age  to  abandon  his  nature  studies 
and  devote  himself  to  more  sedentary  occupations,  he  served  the 
society  faithfully  as  presiding-  officer  until  December,  1858,  when, 

8  A  Memoir  of  Samuel  George  Morton,  by  Charles  D.  Meigs,  M.D. 
Read  November  6,  1851,  and  published  by  direction  of  the  Academy,  Phila- 
delphia, 1851. 


The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  15 

declining  a  renomination,  he  was  succeeded  by  Isaac  Lea.  Mr.  Ord 
died  January  23,  1866.9 

The  anniversary  of  the  founding  of  the  Academy  was  cele- 
brated in  1854.  On  the  evening  of  March  20th,  William  Parker 
Foulke  delivered  an  appropriate  address  in  the  Hall  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  following  evening  more  than  one 
hundred  members  and  correspondents,  with  a  few  distinguished 
guests,  dined  in  the  hall  of  the  Musical  Fund  Society,  the  occasion 
being  long  remembered  as  an  unusually  pleasant  one. 

In  1855,  the  building  was  again  enlarged  by  the  erection  of  an 
additional  story  of  twenty-four  feet  in  height  at  a  cost  of  $12,263, 
the  entire  amount  being  secured  in  subscriptions  by  a  committee  of 
which  Mr.  William  S.  Vaux  was  the  energetic  and  efficient  chairman. 

The  specimens  in  the  apartment  fronting  on  Broad  Street,  at 
first  designed  as  a  lecture  room,  were  now  removed  upstairs  and  the 
growing  library  was  extended  into  the  room  thus  vacated  which 
was  used  subsequently  as  the  place  of  meeting.  The  western  room 
in  which  the  meetings  had  been  held  was  later  divided  by  a  galleried 
partition,  thus  affording  additional  space  for  shelving. 

In  1858,  the  recently  formed  Biological  Society  became  the 
Biological  Department  of  the  Academy,  Dr.  Leidy  being  the  first 
Director.  Valuable  contributions  were  made  for  the  next  three 
years  to  the  separately  paged  Proceedings  by  S.  Weir  Mitchell, 
Henry  Hartshorne,  J.  Cheston  Morris,  William  A.  Hammond,  Isaac 
I.  Hayes,  J.  J.  Woodward  and  the  Director.  More  pressing  matters 
engaged  the  attention  of  many  of  the  members  on  the  breaking  out 
of  the  war,  so  that  the  meetings  were  suspended  and  not  resumed 
until  1868,  when  renewed  life  was  acquired  by  union  with  the 
recently  organized  Microscopical  Society  of  Philadelphia,  the  com- 
bination being  known  as  the  Biological  and  Microscopical  Section  of 
the  Academy. 

As  a  presiding  officer  Dr.  Lea  was  dignified  and  genial,  greatly 
enjoying  the  exchange  of  opinions  with  those  brought  together  each 
succeeding  Tuesday  evening.  He  imparted  to  the  meetings  more 
than  ever  the  character  of  conversazioni,  frequently  dropping  the 
gavel  long  after  the  appointed  time.  He  died  December  8,  1886.10 

In  1860,  the  children  of  the  late  Augustus  E.  Jessup,  in  fulfil- 

9  George  Ord,  by  Samuel  N.  Rhoads.     Cassinia,  No.  12,  1908. 

10  The  Published  Writings   of  Isaac  Lea,   LL.D.     By  Newton  Pratt 
Scudder.     Bulletin  of  the  U.  8.  National  Museum,  No.  23. 


16  The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 

ment  of  his  intention,  announced  that  they  would  pay  $120  per 
annum  toward  the  expenses  of  publication  and  $480  per  annum  for 
the  assistance  of  poor  young  men  desiring  to  study  natural  history. 
The  sums  named  were  regularly  paid  until  February,  1872,  when 
$10,000  in  bonds  were  transferred  to  the  Academy.  Mrs.  Clara  J. 
Moore,  in  1888,  added  $5,000  to  the  fund  and,  in  1893,  she  gave 
$5,000  for  the  assistance  of  young  women  similarly  inclined.  Sixty- 
nine  men  and  four  women  have  been  assisted  by  the  endowment, 
some  of  them  attaining  dignified  positions  as  teachers,  geologists, 
biologists  and  authors. 

The  same  year  the  Academy  lost  the  services  of  the  Treasurer, 
George  W.  Carpenter,  who  had  served  in  that  capacity  most  dis- 
creetly for  thirty-four  years.  He  was  ever  generous  in  his 
encouragement  of  young  naturalists,  Mr.  Thomas  Meehan,  for 
example,  being  always  warm  in  his  acknowledgement  of  indebtedness 
to  him. 

The  Academy  entered  on  its  second  half  century  under  the 
brightest  prospects  and  with  a  most  gratifying  record  of  honor- 
able achievements.  The  year  1862  was  made  notable  by  the  work 
of  illustrious  veterans  who  were  still  active,  and  by  what  there  was 
reason  to  expect  from  their  successors.  But  few  of  the  great  collec- 
tions which  have  since  come  into  prominence  were  in  existence.  The 
Smithsonian  Institution  was  then  rather  a  distributing  agency  than 
a  storehouse  of  scientific  material.  The  United  States  Government 
had  not  become,  through  the  Agricultural  Department,  the  National 
Museum,  the  Fish  Commission  and  the  Geological  Surveys,  one  of 
the  largest  publishing  concerns  in  the  world,  and  a  formidable  rival 
in  the  publication  of  scientific  matter,  so  that  the  work  of  Gill, 
Meek,  Hayden,  Coues,  Stimpson,  Kennicott,  Yarrow  and  others  in 
Washington  and  elsewhere,  was  issued  promptly  and  accurately  in 
the  pages  of  the  Proceedings  and  Journal. 

Leidy  had  suspended  for  a  time  his  delightful  field  and  lab- 
oratory notes  and  was  pursuing  his  paleontological  studies  in  a 
little  dark  and  dusty  room  on  the  first  floor  of  the  museum.  These 
he  continued  until  driven  out  of  the  field  by  the  wrangling  of  Cope 
and  Marsh,  when  his  microscopic  studies  were  carried  on  more 
comfortably  at  home. 

John  Cassin11  had  held  for  years  such  undisputed  sway  over  the 

11  John  Cassin,  by  Witmer  Stone.     Cassinia  I,  pp.   1-7. 


The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  17 

collection  of  birds  as  to  be  somewhat  jealous  of  his  authority  as 
Ornithological  Curator.  Daniel  Giraud  Elliot  and  others  desiring 
access  to  the  specimens  for  purposes  of  study  found  him  ready  with 
most  generous  assistance,  but  interference  in  the  administration  of 
the  department,  as  was  once  attempted  by  Dr.  Heerman,  the  cata- 
loguer of  the  oological  collection,  was  sternly  and  effectively 
resented.  The  western  room  of  the  library  was  filled  with  trays  of 
mounted  birds  and  scores  of  volumes  which  no  one  dared  to  touch. 
Books  and  specimens,  although  somewhat  the  worse  for  dust,  were 
made  good  use  of  by  the  autocrat,  especially  on  Sundays,  for  the 
exigencies  of  breadwinning  left  him  but  little  time  for  his  favorite 
studies  during  the  week. 

The  genial  old  Frenchman,  Elias  Durand,12  had  charge 
of  the  herbarium  and  was  just  then  much  perturbed  by  the 
blunders  of  S.  B.  Buckley  in  his  papers  on  the  plants  of  Texas. 
These  were  later  unsparingly  criticised  by  Gray. 

Lea  was  reading  at  the  meetings  the  prodromi  of  the  papers 
to  be  afterwards  printed  in  extenso  in  the  Journal  and,  it  must 
be  confessed,  not  contributing  greatly  thereby  to  the  interest 
of  the  sessions.  The  sound  of  the  fierce  battle  between  him  and 
Conrad  had  died  away  and  the  latter,  as  efficiently  as  his  dyspepsia 
would  allow,  was  describing  fossil  shells  and  making  autograph 
drawings  on  stone  of  his  new  species,  his  activity  being  greatly 
stimulated  by  the  facilities  for  publication  supplied  by  the  newly 
started  American  Journal  of  Conchology. 

George  W.  Tryon,  Jr.,13  the  devoted  editor  and  proprietor  of 
the  new  journal,  was  an  indefatigable  worker  and  gave  up  his  interest 
in  a  lucrative  business  to  devote  himself  to  science.  Before  doing 
so  he  devoted  every  spare  moment  to  his  conchological  work  and  on 
meeting  nights  and  holidays  would  be  found  at  his  preempted 
post  in  the  library  with  trays  of  shells  and  piles  of  books  preparing 
his  lists  and  monographs.  He  started  the  American  Journal  of 
Conchology  in  1865  and  carried  it  successfully  through  seven 
volumes.  In  1879  he  published  the  first  number  of  the  Manual  of 
Conchology,  a  work  to  which  his  future  scientific  labors  were 
almost  entirely  confined.  The  series  has  been  continued  by  the 

12  Obituary  Notice  of  Elias  Durand,  by  Thomas  Meehan,  Proceedings 
A.  N.  8.  P.,  1873,  pp.  355-359. 

13  A  Biographical    Notice   of   George   W.   Tryon,   Jr.,  by  W.    S.   W. 
Ruschenberger,  M.D.     Proceedings  A.  N.  8.  P.     1888,  pp.  399-418. 


18  The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 

Academy  since  Tryon's  death  in  1888,  under  the  able  editorship  of 
Dr.  Henry  A.  Pilsbry,  the  value  of  whose  conchological  work  has 
received  the  most  cordial  recognition.  Mr.  Tryon's  business  train- 
ing enabled  him  to  actually  secure  a  revenue  from  his  two  unpromis- 
ing ventures,  which,  with  much  more,  he  bequeathed  to  his  favorite 
department.  In  quite  a  special  sense,  therefore,  his  work  con- 
tinues. 

Much  the  greater  part  of  Cope's  time  was,  at  this  period, 
devoted  to  the  study  of  herpetology,  his  work  being  done  in  a  small 
room  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  first  gallery.  Cope's  contribu- 
tions to  science,  his  paleontological  work  especially,  lent  brilliancy 
to  the  Proceedings  and  Journal  and  as  time  progressed  entitled 
him  to  be  regarded  as  the  greatest  naturalist  born  on  American  soil. 
In  his  relations  to  the  administrative  affairs  of  the  Academy,  he 
was  ever  a  storm  center,  absolutely  a  law  unto  himself,  and  so 
divergent  were  his  theories  and  methods  from  those  entertained  by 
Dr.  Leidy  and  his  other  associates,  that  for  years  before  his  death 
in  1897,  he  had  no  official  connection  with  the  society,  although  his 
interest  in  the  meetings  was  maintained  and  the  provisions  of  his 
will  give  evidence  that,  through  all  the  disagreements  and  in  spite  of 
them,  he  retained  confidence  in  its  usefulness  and  was,  perhaps,  after 
all  not  entirely  opposed  to  its  methods.  He  bequeathed  to  the 
Academy  about  8,000  valuable  specimens  of  mammals,  birds,  reptiles 
and  fishes  and  the  fund  arising  from  the  sale  of  his  paleontological 
collections  after  the  payment  of  certain  legacies. 

Dr.  James  Aitken  Meigs  had  taken  up  the  work  of  Samuel 
George  Morton  and  was  giving  all  the  time  he  could  spare  from  a 
rapidly  growing  practice  to  the  study  of  ethnology,  with  the  fine 
results  recorded  in  the  Proceedings. 

John  Hamilton  Slack,  a  man  of  extraordinary  versatility,  in  a 
little  room  directly  under  Cope's,  was  studying  the  mammals  and 
laying  ambitious  plans  for  a  monograph  of  the  monkeys,  which,  it  is 
to  be  regretted,  resulted  in  nothing  more  than  a  sixteen  page  con- 
tribution to  the  Proceedings.  He  was  a  frequent  visitor  to  the 
library  and  by  his  accomplishments  gave  brightness  and  variety  to 
the  dullest  days. 

William  M.  Gabb,  during  his  term  as  one  of  the  Jessup  Fund 
students,  had  fitted  himself  for  the  work  accomplished  later  in 
connection  with  the  Geological  Survey  of  California  and  as  Director 
of  the  survey  of  San  Domingo. 


The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  19 

The  first  recipient  of  benefits  from  the  Jessup  endowment  was 
Charles  Conrad  Abbott,  then  engaged  in  the  study  of  ichthyology, 
but  later  recognized  as  an  authority  on  the  Stone  Age  in  America 
and  as  the  author  of  graceful  contributions  to  the  literature  of 
nature  study. 

Harrison  Allen14  had  begun  his  fine  work  on  the  bats  and  had 
contributed  his  first  papers  to  the  Proceedings  for  1861.  They 
were,  in  common  with  those  prepared  by  him  in  later  years, 
characterized  by  painstaking  accuracy  and  remain  of  permanent 
value,  conscientiousness  being  the  keynote  of  the  author's  character 
and  work. 

John  L.  Le  Conte15  was  adding  to  his  reputation  as  one  of  the 
most  accomplished  of  American  naturalists  by  a  series  of  papers  on 
the  coleoptera.  From  him  his  friend  and  protege,  George  H. 
Horn,16  was  drawing  the  inspiration  that  enabled  him  to  secure  a 
distinguished  position  in  the  same  department  of  science. 

Thomas  Meehan17  had  been  elected  a  member  ten  years  before 
and  was  contributing  to  the  Proceedings  the  results  of  his  observa- 
tions on  the  physiology  of  plants,  continued  until  his  death  in 
1901.  He  was  indefatigable  as  Conservator  of  the  Botanical  Sec- 
tion, and  gave  much  time  and  labor,  even  when  suffering  from  the 
illness  which  proved  fatal,  to  the  increase  and  care  of  the  herb- 
arium. He  was  an  acute  observer  and  graceful  recorder  of  the 
life  histories  of  plants,  and  it  is  far  from  being  to  his  discredit 
that  he  never,  as  far  as  known,  thought  it  worth  while  to  describe 
a  new  species. 

John  Warner's  communications  on  the  mathematics  of  organic 
morphology  gave  a  novel  interest  to  several  of  the  meetings, 


14  Proceedings  of  a  meeting  of  the  Academy  held  in  commemoration  of 
Harrison   Allen,    M.D.,    and   George   H.    Horn,   M.D.,   Proceedings   of   the 
Academy,  1897,  pp.  505-535.     Harrison  Allen,  1841-1897,  by  Burt  G.  Wilder. 
Association  of  American  Anatomists,  December  28,  1897. 

15  Biographical  Sketch  of  John  Lawrence  Le  Conte,  by  S.  H.  Scudder. 
Trans.  Am.  Ent.  Soc.,  xi,  1883-84,  pp.  1-27.     Sketch  of  John  L.  Le  Conte, 
by  Jos.  P.  Lesley,  and  Memoir,  by  George  H.  Horn,  M.D.     Proc.  Am.  Philos. 
Soc.,  xxi,  1883,  pp.  291-299. 

16  Proceedings  of  memorial  meeting,  Proc.  A.  N.  /5?.,.1897,  pp.  505-535; 
A  Biographical  Notice  of  George  Henry  Horn,  by  Philip  P.  Calvert.     Trans- 
actions Amer.  Ent.  Soc.,  xxv,  1898. 

17  "The   Botanists   of   Philadelphia   and   Their   Work,"   by  John  W. 
Harshberger,  Ph.D.,  1899,  pp.  249-256. 


20  The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 

delivered  as  they  were  with  a  quaint  earnestness  which  held  the 
attention  even  of  those  unable  to  follow  his  abstract  deductions. 

These  were  the  men  who  were  actually  engaged  in  original 
scientific  work  on  and  about  the  fiftieth  birthday  of  the  Academy, 
in  connection  with  its  library  and  museum.  Their  contributions 
to  knowledge  were  published  in  the  Proceedings  and  Journal, 
which  were  additionally  reinforced  by  contributions  from  most  of 
the  leading  naturalists  of  America. 

Dr.  Lea  declined  a  re-election  in  1863,  and  Dr.  Wilson  very 
reluctantly  and  on  the  persistent  urging  of  nearly  every  one  he 
met  during  his  visits  to  the  premises,  allowed  himself  to  be  placed 
in  nomination,  and  was,  of  course,  unanimously  elected  at  the 
annual  meeting  of  that  year.  His  term  of  office  was  the  briefest 
in  the  history  of  the  Academy.  He  was  not  altogether  satisfied 
with  the  conduct  of  the  entomological  department,  and  had,  with 
characteristic  zeal,  allied  himself  with  the  American  Entomol- 
ogical Society,  which  had  been  founded  in  1859  and  incorporated 
in  18C3.  His  sympathies  during  the  war  were  distinctly  South- 
ern and  therefore  not  in  harmony  with  the  rather  aggressive 
patriotism  of  the  majority  of  his  fellow-members.  Moreover,  his 
desire  to  remain  in  retirement  and  to  avoid  any  expression  of 
gratitude  for  his  enormous  benefits  to  the  society  made  his  posi- 
tion as  President  distasteful  to  him.  As  a  matter  of  fact  he  had 
not  presided  at  a  single  meeting  when,  on  June  28,  1864,  he  sent 
in  his  resignation. 

Dr.  Wilson  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Eobert  Bridges,18  who  had 
been  elected  to  membership  in  1835.  There  probably  has  never 
been  one  among  those  devoted  unobtrusively  to  the  interests  of 
the  society  who  rendered  more  efficient  service  than  Dr.  Bridges. 
He  had  served  at  various  times  as  Librarian,  Eecording  Secretary, 
Corresponding  Secretary,  Auditor  and  Vice-President,  and  did 
effective  work  on  numerous  standing  and  special  committees, 
including  those  on  the  Library,  Publications,  Finance,  Botany, 
Entomology,  Herpetology  and  Ichthyology,  Physics  and  Chemis- 
try. His  unassuming  modesty  was  like  that  of  his  predecessor, 
and  after  one  year  in  office  he  declined  a  re-election,  and  was 


18  Biographical  Notice  of  Dr.  Kobert  Bridges,  by  W.  S.  W.  Ruschen- 
berger,  M.D.  Proceedings  Am.  Phil.  Soc.,  xxi,  1884,  pp.  427-447.  Proceed- 
ings of  the  Academy,  1882,  pp.  226-230. 


The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  21 

succeeded  by  Dr.  Isaac  Hays19  whose  early  services  to  the  society, 
especially  as  Curator  and  Chairman  of  the  Publication  Com- 
mittee, established  the  propriety  of  his  election,  for  there  is  no 
doubt  that  to  his  zeal  and  ability  alone  was  due  the  continuation 
of  the  first  series  of  the  Journal.  He  presided  with  dignity  and 
efficiency  for  four  years,  and  was  then  succeeded  by  Dr.  William  S. 
W.  Euschenberger. 

Notwithstanding  the  space  provided  by  the  additional  story 
completed  in  1855,  the  need  of  more  room  for  the  arrangement  of 
the  collections  was  again  becoming  urgent.  A  committee  of 
forty  was  appointed  in  December,  1865,  to  solicit  subscriptions  for 
the  erection  of  a  fire-proof  building  on  a  lot  of  ground  not  less 
than  three  times  the  size  of  the  one  then  occupied  and  as  close 
to  it  as  possible.  In  January,  1867,  a  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Building  Fund  was  elected  by  the  subscribers,  Dr.  Euschenberger 
being  made  Chairman,  George  W.  Tryon,  Jr.,  Secretary,  and 
William  S.  Vaux,  Treasurer.  Without  the  least  forgetfulness  of 
the  loyal  service  and  the  courageous  perseverance  in  the  face  of 
many  discouragements  of  the  other  members  of  the  Board,  it  may 
be  claimed  with  justice  that  to  these  three  men  was  due  the  suc- 
cess of  the  undertaking. 

After  an  ineffectual  attempt  to  secure  possession  of  one  of 
the  four  Penn  Squares  at  the  intersection  of  Broad  and  Market 
Streets,  and  the  rejection  of  propositions  to  move  to  Fairmount 
Park  and  elsewhere  equally  undesirable,  a  lot  of  ground  of 
adequate  size  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Nineteenth  and  Eace 
Streets,  was  purchased  in  1868  for  $65,298.  A  plan  submitted  by 
James  H.  Windrim,  in  competition  with  Messrs.  Frazer,  Furness 
and  Hewit,  and  John  C.  Trautwine,  was  adopted,  and  Mr.  Wind- 
rim  was  appointed  architect.  It  was  not,  however,  until  May, 
1872,  that  the  Building  Committee  was  authorized  to  commence 
the  edifice.  The  cornerstone  was  laid  at  noon  on  Wednesday, 
October  30,  addresses  being  delivered  by  Dr.  Euschenberger,  Eev. 
Elias  E.  Beadle,  Dr.  J.  Aitken  Meigs,  Dr.  Horatio  C.  Wood  and 
Eev.  George  Dana  Boardman. 

So  untiring  had  Dr.  Euschenberger  been  in  the  fulfillment 
of  the  trust  confided  to  him  as  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 


19  Memoir  of  Isaac  Hays,  M.D.,  by  Alfred  Stille,  M.D.  Trans.  Col. 
Phys.  Phila.,  Third  series,  v,  1881.  Obituary  Notice  [Dr.  Isaac  Hays],  by 
S.  D.  Gross,  M.D.  Am.  Jour.  Med.  Sri.,  July,  1879,  p.  281. 


22  The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 

of  the  Building  Fund  that,  on  the  retirement  of  Dr.  Hays  in  1869, 
he  was  almost  as  a  matter  of  course  elected  President.  His  with- 
drawal on  age  from  active  service  in  the  United  States  Navy  had 
provided  him  with  leisure  for  congenial  employment,  and  his  con- 
nection with  the  Academy,  the  American  Philosophical  Society 
and  the  College  of  Physicians,  was  productive  of  the  most  bene- 
ficial results.  ' 

After  a  quiescence  of  seven  years,  the  Biological  Department 
had  been  revived,  in  1868,  by  union  with  the  Microsc'opical 
Society,  under  the  title  Biological  and  Microscopical  Section.  Dr. 
E.  S.  Kenderdine  was  President  of  the  Microscopical  Society  and 
Dr.  Leidy  of  the  Biological  Department.  When  the  union  was 
effected  Dr.  William  Pepper  was  elected  Director.  He  character- 
istically imparted  vitality  to  the  proceedings  of  the  first  year,  in 
which  J.  Gibbons  Hunt,  Dr.  Leidy,  Dr.  J.  H.  McQuillen,  Dr. 
Horatio  C.  Wood,  Jr.,  Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell  and  W.  H.  Walmsley 
took  an  active  part.  Fragmentary  proceedings  were  published  dur- 
ing the  three  succeeding  years  as  supplements  to  the  Academy's 
volume,  and  were  then  suspended.  The  meetings  of  the  Section, 
however,  have  been  continued,  and  occasional  receptions  have  been 
held.  The  semi-centennial  of  the  formation  of  the  Section  was 
celebrated  last  year  by  an  enjoyable  banquet,  at  which  speeches  were 
made  reminiscent  of  old  times  and  in  affectionate  commemoration 
of  those  who  had  labored  and  gone  before. 

Through  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Tryon,  a  Conchological  Section 
had  been  established  in  1866.  Its  administration  resulted  in  the 
completion  of  the  arrangement  of  the  conchological  collection 
which,  because  of  the  zeal  of  Tryon  and  his  successor,  Dr.  Pils- 
bry,  is  probably  the  equal  of  any  to  be  found  elsewhere. 

The  removal  to  Nineteenth  and  Race  Streets  was  begun  on 
the  2d  of  September,  1875,  Messrs.  George  W.  Tryon,  Jr.,  and 
Charles  F.  Parker  having  been  engaged  on  salary  to  transfer  the 
collections  to  the  new  building.  The  transfer  of  the  library  was 
made  early  in  1876,  the  librarian  making  special  acknowledgment 
for  assistance  to  James  A.  Ogden  and  John  A.  Eyder,  both  at  the 
time  Jessup  Fund  students. 

The  building  had  been  completed  at  a  cost  of  $193,682.29. 
The  sum  of  $50,000  had  been  subscribed  from  the  amount  realized 
by  the  sale  of  the  old  building,  this  sacrifice  being  made  to  secure 
the  arrangement  of  the  library  and  museum  in  time  for  the  visitors 


W.    S.   W     RUSCHENBERGBR,   1807-1895. 


Academy  of  Natural  Sciences. 


The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  23 

attending  the  Centennial  Exposition,  from  whom  large  additions  to 
the  revenues  were  expected  in  fees  of  entrance  to  the  museum. 
Interest  was,  however,  so  concentrated  on  the  exhibition  in  Fair- 
mount  Park  that  sightseers  had  little  time  for  anything  else,  the 
additional  income  was  only  partially  realized,  the  expenses  of  admin- 
istration were  greatly  increased,  and  for  the  next  few  years  the 
Treasurer  annually  reported  a  deficit. 

Mr.  Tryon,  not  entirely  satisfied  with  the  condition  of  affairs, 
resigned  his  position  as  Curator  in  July,  1876.  His  action  was 
probably  for  the  benefit  of  science  as  he  thereafter  was  able  to 
devote  his  time  to  his  conchological  studies  without  interference 
from  outside  engagements. 

In  November,  1875,  it  had  been  agreed  that  the  American 
Entomological  Society  should  be  received  into  the  Academy,  and 
on  May  16th  of  the  following  year  the  Entomological  Section  was 
organized  on  the  basis  of  the  proposed  union,  the  Society  retain- 
ing its  corporate  existence  as  far  as  the  administration  of  its  trust 
funds  made  it  necessary.  The  union  has  been  to  the  advantage  of 
both  institutions.  The  entomological  interests  of  the  Academy, 
almost  entirely  neglected  from  the  removal  of  Say  to  the  West 
until  1876,  have  been  most  judiciously  administered,  especially 
since  the  appointment  of  Dr.  Henry  Skinner  as  Conservator  in 
December,  1884. 

The  organization  of  the  Botanical  Section  was  reported  the 
following  month.  It  was  mainly  due  to  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Meehan,  who  had  succeeded  Dr.  John  L.  Le  Conte  as  one  of  the 
Vice-Presidents  in  1877,  retaining  the  office  until  his  death  in 
1901.  He  devoted  much  time  to  the  increase  and  arrangement 
of  the  herbarium  in  association  with  Mr.  John  H.  Kedfield,  the 
Conservator,  whose  later  years  were  devoted  to  botanical  studies, 
although  prior  to  1876  he  had  done  good  work  in  conchology. 
Mr.  Meehan  was  a  prudent  councillor,  active  in  his  support  of  all 
enterprises  for  the  public  good.  His  personality  was  such  as  to 
inspire  confidence,  and  this  quality  was  productive  of  great  benefit 
to  the  Academy  when,  in  1879,  his  friend,  Henry  N.  Johnson,20 
influenced  solely  by  his  esteem  for  Mr.  Meehan,  left  his  entire 
estate,  on  the  death  of  his  wife,  to  the  society.  Mrs.  Johnson 
died  in  1885,  and  the  resulting  increase  in  the  Academy's  resources 

20  Biographical  Notice  of  Henry  N.  Johnson.  Proo.  A.  N.  8.  P.,  1885, 
p.  381. 


24  The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 

went  far  to  relieving  necessities  which  were  yearly  becoming 
more  pressing.  The  estimated  value  of  the  Johnson  estate  was 
$52,083. 

Modification  of  the  By-Laws  adopted  in  1876  provided  for 
the  appointment  of  Professors  and  Assistant  Professors,  who  were 
to  be  intrusted  with  the  arrangement,  increase  and  preservation 
of  the  collections.  Under  these  provisions  a  number  of  professors 
were  appointed  by  the  Council.  The  lecture  fees  were  not  enough 
to  defray  expenses,  proving,  it  was  believed,  that  the  attempt  to 
establish  systematic  teaching  could  not  be  successfully  realized  in 
the  absence  of  endowments,  and  the  By-Laws  defining  the  profes- 
sorships were  subsequently  repealed. 

'After  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Tryon,  the  arrangement  of  the 
collections  was  continued  by  Mr.  Charles  F.  Parker,21  who  had 
earlier  given  devoted  service  to  the  care  of  the  herbarium  and  had 
been  elected  Curator  in  1873.  Mr.  Parker  succeeded  Mr.  Tryon  as 
the  salaried  Curator-in-Charge.  He  served  most  efficiently  until 
1883,  when  his  death  was,  it  is  believed,  hastened,  if  not  caused,  by 
the  tireless  discharge  of  his  duties. 

Frequent  acknowledgment  is  given  by  the  Curators  at  this 
time  to  John  A.  Eyder22  for  assistance  in  the  care  and  arrangement 
of  the  collections.  He  had  been  appointed  a  Jessup  Fund  student, 
after  a  first  unsuccessful  application,  in  1874,  being  indebted 
mainly  to  Mr.  Meehan  for  his  selection.  His  work  as  an  attache 
of  the  United  States  National  Museum  and  of  the  United  States 
Fish  Commission,  and  subsequently  as  Professor  of  Comparative 
Histology  and  Embryology  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  to- 
gether with  the  high  value  of  his  contributions  to  the  literature 
of  philosophical  biology,  entitle  him  to  be  considered  the  most 
distinguished  of  those  who  have  been  assisted  by  the  Jessup 
endowment.  He  died  at  the  height  of  his  scientific  vigor,  full 
of  ambitious  designs  for  the  future,  in  1896. 

Dr.  Henry  C.  Chapman  succeeded  Mr.  Tryon  as  Curator  in 
August,  1876,  but  served  only  until  the  end  of  1877.  He  had 
been  elected  a  member  in  1868,  and  immediately  availed  himself 
of  the  resources  of  the  library  and  museum  for  the  enthusiastic 

21  Obituary  Notice  of   Charles   F.   Parker,   by  Isaac   C.   Martindale. 
Proc.  A.N.  8.  Phila.,  1883,  pp.  260-265. 

22  A  Biographical  Sketch  of  John  Adams  Ryder,  by  Dr.  Harrison  Allen. 
Proc.  A.  N.  8.  Phila.,  1896,  pp.  222-256. 


The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  25 

prosecution  of  his  studies  in  comparative  anatomy.  He  was  induced 
to  resume  the  duties  of  the  Curatorship  in  June,  1891,  succeeding 
his  dear  friend,  Dr.  Leidy.  He  held  the  position  until  1904,  when 
he  declined  a  re-election,  and  was  succeeded  by  William  S. 
Vaux,  Jr. 

The  heirs  of  Joshua  T.  Jeanes,  who  died  suddenly  January 
3,  1880,  gave  to  the  Academy  $20,000,  the  sum  which  he  had 
indicated  his  intention  of  bequeathing  in  a  pencil  memorandum  on 
the  margin  of  his  will.  The  interest  of  Mr.  Jeanes  in  the  society 
was  due  to  the  association  of  his  brother,  Joseph,  with  all  matters 
likely  to  advance  its  interests  since  his  election  to  membership  in 
May,  1853.  It  was  through  the  liberality  of  Joseph  Jeanes,  in 
association  with  William  P.  Wilstach,  that  provision  was  made  for 
the  publication  of  Leidy's  fine  work,  The  Extinct  Fauna  of  Dakota 
and  Nebraska,  constituting  the  seventh  volume  of  the  quarto  Jour- 
nal. His  contributions  for  the  increase  of  the  library  were  frequent, 
and,  in  truth,  every  department  benefited  by  his  desire  to  advance 
the  cause  of  science.  In  June,  1898,  his  sister,  Anna,  conveyed  to 
the  Academy  a  gift  of  -$20,000,  to  be  known  as  the  Mary  Jeanes 
Museum  Fund. 

The  Mineralogical  Section  was  founded  in  1877.  In  1879 
its  scope  was  broadened  and  its  name  changed  to  the  Miner- 
alogical and  Geological  Section.  Eeports  of  its  work  were,  for  a 
time,  contributed  to  the  Proceedings.  Its  meetings  are  held  regu- 
larly, and  much  good  is  effected  by  a  series  of  annual  field  excursions 
in  the  Spring  and  Fall. 

A  severe  loss  was  sustained  in  May,  1882,  in  the  death  of 
William  S.  Vaux,23  who  had  been  elected  a  member  in  1834.  He 
had  served  the  society  effectively  and  generously  for  more  than 
forty-eight  years,  during  which  time,  except  when  absent  from  the 
city,  he  seldom  allowed  a  day  to  pass  without  a  visit  to  the  Hall 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  Curator,  which  position  he  had 
held  continuously  since  1838.  He  was  earnestly  interested  in  all 
the  building  enterprises,  and  gave  liberally  to  them  himself,  con- 
tributing to  the  last  building  fund  the  largest  sum  given  by  an 
individual.  He  bequeathed  to  the  Academy  his  collections  of 
minerals  and  archaeological  specimens,  with  the  exception  of  ten  of 


23  Notice  of  William  S.  Vaux,  by  W.  S.  W.  Ruschenberger.    Proc.  A. 
N.  8.  Phila.,  1882,  pp.  Ill,  112. 


26  The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 

the  minerals  to  be  selected  by  his  brother.  He  also  left  $1,000  to 
provide  additional  cases  and  $10,000,  of  which  the  income  was  to  be 
expended  for  the  care  and  increase  of  the  collections. 

The  will  provided  for  the  appointment  of  a  special  Curator 
and  under  its  terms  Mr.  Jacob  Binder  assumed  the  duty  of  remov- 
ing, arranging  and  increasing  the  collections,  declining  the  com- 
pensation which  the  Council  was  empowered  to  define.  He  had 
been  elected  Curator  in  1882,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the 
death  of  Dr.  E.  S.  Kenderdine.  To  fit  himself  for  his  duties  as 
Vaux  Curator  he  attended  courses  of  lectures  on  mineralogy  at  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania  under  Dr.  Koenig,  the  result  being 
apparent  in  the  satisfactory  arrangement  of  the  collection  according 
to  the  system  of  Dana.  He  served  as  Curator  until  1892,  when 
failing  health  forced  him  to  decline  a  re-election.  Dr.  Joseph  T. 
Eothrock  then  held  the  office  for  one  year,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Arthur  Erwin  Brown,  who  has  since  served  continuously. 

Dr.  Euschenberger  declined  a  renomination  for  the  Presi- 
dency in  1882,  and  Dr.  Leidy,  having  been  at  last  persuaded  to 
become  a  candidate,  his  fellow-members  evinced  their  affectionate 
gratitude  by  conferring  on  him  the  highest  office  within  their  gift, 
an  honor  which  he  had  repeatedly  declined.  He  still  continued  to 
act  as  Chairman  of  the  Curators,  the  Library  Committee  and  the 
Publication  Committee,  all  of  which  profited  by  his  guidance  and 
advice  until  his  death  on  April  30,  1891. 

Custody  of  the  collections  of  the  State  Geological  Survey  was 
confided  to  the  Academy  by  Act  of  the  Legislature  in  1883. 

On  his  retirement  from  the  Presidency,  Dr.  Euschenberger 
was  elected  one  of  the  four  Curators,  thus  becoming,  of  course, 
an  ex-officio  member  of  the  Council,  where  he  continued  his 
services  during  the  rest  of  his  life.  His  well-earned  leisure  after 
his  retirement  from  active  duty  in  the  navy  was  occupied  in  constant 
supervision  of  the  building  operations,  in  the  revision  of  his 
Notices,  in  the  preparation  of  annual  reports  during  his  term  of 
service  as  President,  and  in  convincing  support  of  the  Academy's 
claims  to  consideration  by  means  of  frequent  newspaper  articles. 
He  died  March  24,  1895.24 


24  A  Biographical  Notice  of  W.  .S.  W.  Ruschenberger,  by  Edward  J. 
Nolan,  M.D.  Proceedings  Academy  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia,  1895, 
pp.  452-462. 


JOSEPH  LEIDY.  1823-1891. 


Academy  of  Natural  Sciences. 


The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  27 

Professor  Angelo  Heilprin25  succeeded  Charles  F.  Parker  as 
Curator  in  October,  1883,  and  was  immediately  appointed  Cura- 
tor-in-Charge.  He  had  begun  his  studies  in  the  Academy  in  1879, 
on  his  return  from  Europe,  where  he  had  received  a  solid  scien- 
tific training  under  Huxley  in  the  Royal  College  of  Mines,  London, 
and  subsequently  in  Geneva,  Florence  and  Vienna.  While  serv- 
ing as  a  Jessup  Fund  student  he  was  engaged  in  the  arrangement 
of  the  collection  of  fossil  invertebrata.  He  suggested  as  Curator  a 
number  of  enterprises  in  which  he  took  more  interest  than  in  the 
routine  duties  of  his  executive  office.  He  began  the  formation  of 
collections  illustrating  the  natural  history  of  Pennsylvania  and  New 
Jersey,  advocated  the  opening  of  the  museum  on  Sundays,  organized 
popular  courses  of  lectures,  gave  effective  assistance  in  securing 
appropriations  from  the  Legislature  in  1889  and  1891,  inaug- 
urated a  series  of  evening  receptions  and  conducted  expeditions 
to  Florida,  Bermuda,  Yucatan  and  Mexico.  He  was  also  the 
leader  of  the  auxiliary  party  which  accompanied  the  North  Green- 
land expedition  sent  out  under  Lieutenant  Peary  in  1891,  and  he 
commanded  the  Peary  Relief  Expedition  of  the  following  year. 

The  meeting  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science,  held  in  Philadelphia  in  1884,  may  be  regarded 
as  a  notable  event  in  the  history  of  the  Academy,  under  whose 
auspices  it  was  held.  It  was  probably  the  most  important  meet- 
ing of  the  kind  held  in  America  up  to  that  time. 

In  their  report  for  1884,  the  Curators  make  special  mention 
of  the  Rev.  Henry  C.  McCook's  gift  of  specimens  of  insect  and 
araneid  architecture,  with  justice  regarded  as  a  collection  of 
unique  value.  Dr.  McCook  had  been  elected  Vice-President  in 
1882  to  succeed  Mr.  Vaux.  He  served  until  1900,  taking  a  spe- 
cial interest  in  the  Department  of  Instruction,  the  initial  activity 
of  which  was  almost  entirely  due  to  his  enterprise  and  zeal.  His 
collections,  illustrating  the  anatomy  and  natural  history  of  ants  and 
spiders,  were  made  during  the  prosecution  of  his  studies  in  the 
brief  intervals  of  exacting  professional  duties. 

The  Academy,  in  1888,  accepted  from  Mrs.  Emma  W.  Hayden 
an  endowment  of  a  memorial  to  her  husband,  Dr.  Ferdinand  V. 
Hayden.  Provision  was  first  made  to  confer  a  bronze  medal  and 
the  balance  of  interest  on  the  fund  as  a  recognition  of  the  best 


25  Memorial  Notices.     Bulletin  of  the  Geographical  Society  of  Phila- 
delphia, vol.  vi,  No.  1,  Jan.,  1908,  pp.  1-30. 


28  The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 

publication,  exploration,  discovery  or  research  in  the  sciences  of 
geology  and  paleontology.  The  bronze  medal  was  awarded 
annually  until  1899,  when  the  deed  of  trust  was  modified  so  as 
to  provide  for  the  conferring  of  a  gold  medal  once  every  three 
years.26 

An  appropriation  of  $50,000  for  building  purposes  was  received 
from  the  Legislature  in  1889,  and  plans  for  the  extension  of  the 
building,  involving  an  outlay  of  $239,000,  were  considered.  A 
second  appropriation  for  a  like  amount  was  secured  in  1891. 

An  invitation  from  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  to  remove 
the  buildings  to  a  plot  of  ground  in  West  Philadelphia,  immediately 
adjoining  those  of  the  University,  was  received  in  1889,  and  after 
mature  consideration  was  declined  by  a  vote  of  68  to  3.  A  second 
proposition,  with  a  like  intent,  was  quite  as  decidedly  rejected  the 
following  year. 

The  formation  of  an  Ornithological  Section  was  authorized 
in  May,  1891. 

The  last  meeting  presided  over  by  Dr.  Leidy  was  that  of  March 
10,  1891.  His  death,  on  April  30,  inflicted  on  the  Academy  the 
greatest  loss  it  had  ever  sustained.  He  had  served  the  society  most 
devotedly  for  forty-six  years  in  almost  every  position  within  its  gift. 
The  range  of  his  scientific  accomplishments  was  indicated  at  the 
memorial  meeting  held  May  12th,  when  his  work  in  vertebrate 
anatomy  was  considered  by  Dr.  Harrison  Allen,  in  invertebrate 
anatomy  by  Dr.  Henry  C.  Chapman,  in  paleontology  and  geology  by 
Professor  Angelo  Heilprin,  in  mineralogy  by  Joseph  Willcox,  and 
in  botany  by  Dr.  James  Darrach.  An  appreciative  biographical 
notice27  was  prepared  by  Dr.  Chapman  in  which  his  claims  to  per- 
manent recognition  as  one  of  the  greatest  naturalists  of  America, 
and  indeed  of  the  world,  were  ably  sustained.  A  bibliography 
attached  to  the  memoir  credits  him  with  553  papers  dealing  with 
topics  in  almost  every  department  of  natural  history.  A  bronze 
statue  in  commemoration  of  his  standing  in  the  scientific  world 

26 The  recipients  of  the  award  have  been  as  follows:  1890,  James 
Hall;  1891,  Edward  D.  Cope;  1892,  Edward  Suess;  1893,  Thomas  Henry 
Huxley;  1894,  Gabriel  Auguste  Daubree;  1895,  Karl  A.  von  Zittel;  1896, 
Giovanni  Capellini;  1897,  A.  Karpinski;  1898,  Otto  Torell;  1899,  Gilles 
Joseph  Gustave  Dewalque;  1902,  Archibald  Geikie;  1905,  Charles  Doolittle 
Walcott;  1908,  John  Mason  Clarice. 

27  Memoir  of  Joseph  Leidy,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  by  Henry  C.  Chapman,  M.D. 
Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Philad.,  1891,  pp.  342-388. 


The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  29 

adorns  the  pavement  of  the  City  Hall.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  it 
will,  in  the  near  future,  be  moved  to  Logan  Square,  in  immediate 
proximity  to  the  institution  which  he  loved  so  well  and  served 
so  loyally,  and  within  the  walls  of  which  he  accomplished  much  the 
greater  part  of  his  work. 

Charles  E.  Smith28  succeeded  Aubrey  H.  Smith  as  a  member 
of  the  Council.  He  was  immediately  appointed  on  the  Publica- 
tion Committee.  In  this  position  he  rendered  most  important 
service  as  a  judicious  adviser  and  an  extraordinarily  accurate 
proofreader,  until  his  death,  April  15,  1900,  in  his  eightieth  year. 
His  interest  in  the  Academy  was  shown  by  the  bequest  of  his 
botanical  collections,  books,  maps  and  letters,  and  one-sixth  part 
of  the  sum  realized  from  the  sale  of  his  real  and  personal  property. 
The  latter  amounted  to  about  $75,000.  Philip  P.  Calvert  was 
placed  on  the  Publication  Committee  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by 
the  death  of  Mr.  Smith. 

The  Eev.  Dr.  McCook  having  resigned  his  position  as  one  of 
the  Vice-Presidents,  a  minute  of  appreciation  of  the  high  value 
of  his  services  to  science  was  placed  on  the  records.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Arthur  Erwin  Brown,  Sc.  D. 

Out  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  Dr.  Leidy,  the  office  of  Presi- 
dent was  allowed  to  remain  vacant  until  the  annual  election  in 
December,  1891,  when  General  Isaac  Jones  Wistar  was  elected  his 
successor.  In  the  meantime  the  By-Laws  had  been  amended  so  as 
to  provide  that  no  member  should  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  Presi- 
dent for  more  than  four  consecutive  terms. 

General  Wistar  was  a  prudent  adviser  and  conducted  the  affairs 
of  the  society  with  dignity  and  efficiency  for  the  next  four  years. 
In  1892,  he  contributed  to  the  Proceedings  an  able  paper  on  the 
quantity,  rate  of  consumption  and  probable  duration  of  North 
American  coal  and  the  consequence  to  air  breathing  animals  of  its 
entire  consumption.  He  died  September  18,  1905.29 

The  new  lecture  hall  was  transferred  by  the  Board  of  Trustees 
of  the  Building  Fund  in  February,  1892,  the  opening  address  being 
delivered  on  the  22d  of  that  month  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  McCook. 

An  expedition  for  the  exploration  of  West  Greenland  under  the 
command  of  Lieut.  R.  E.  Peary  had  been  fitted  out  by  the  Academy 


28  Memoir  of  Charles  E.  Smith,  by  E.  A.  Scott.    Buffalo,  1902. 
t.  Encycl.  of  Am.  Biogr.,  xii,  359. 


30  The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 

in  1891,  a  party  of  associates  more  directly  representing  the  society, 
consisting  of  Messrs.  Sharp,  Holt,  Hughes,  Burk,  Keely  and  Mengel, 
being  under  the  leadership  of  Professor  Heilprin.  Considerable 
material  new  to  science  and  to  the  museum  was  obtained.  Because, 
perhaps,  of  incomplete  instructions,  serious  misunderstandings  arose 
among  the  members  of  the  party  on  their  return  which,  however,  did 
not  prevent  the  sending  of  an  expedition  under  the  command  of 
Professor  Heilprin  to  the  relief  of  Peary  the  following  year.  This 
party  consisted  of  Henry  G.  Bryant,  second  in  command ;  Dr.  Jack- 
son M.  Mills,  William  E.  Meehan,  Samuel  G.  Entrekin,  Frank 
Stokes,  Albert  W.  Vorse,  Charles  E.  Kite  and  the  leader.  The 
object  of  the  expedition  was  accomplished  successfully.  Lieut. 
Peary  and  those  left  with  him  in  Greenland  the  year  before,  with 
the  exception  of  John  Verhoeff  who  was  lost,  were  landed  in  Phila- 
delphia, September  23d.  Extensive  collections  were  brought  back 
and  the  leader  testified  in  his  report  that  in  this  party  good  fellow- 
ship at  all  times  prevailed. 

An  Anthropological  Section  was  formed  in  1895  with  Harrison 
Allen  as  Director.  The  interest  in  the  organization  was  at  first 
active,  but  after  the  deaths  of  Doctors  Brinton  and  Allen,  it  was 
not  sustained  and  no  meeting  having  been  held  or  report  presented 
for  the  preceding  twelve  months,  the  section  ceased  to  exist  at  the 
end  of  1898. 

Nearly  one-half  of  the  accessions  to  the  library  in  1895  had 
formerly  belonged  to  Dr.  James  Aitken  Meigs.30  He  had  served  as 
Librarian  from  August,  1856  to  May,  1859.  He  died  March  9, 
1879,  and  his  father  retained  possession  of  his  books  and  instruments 
until  his  death,  when  he  bequeathed  them  to  the  Academy  with  the 
sum  of  $20,000,  one-half  for  the  increase  of  the  library  and  the  rest 
without  restriction  or  condition. 

Dr.  Robert  H.  Lamborn,31  who  died  in  1895,  bequeathed  his 
estate  to  the  Academy  "to  be  used  in  biological  and  anthropological 
researches,  the  income  only  to  be  used  and  the  principal  invested." 
Question  as  to  the  validity  of  the  will  under  the  New  York  State 
law  having  been  raised  by  the  heirs-at-law,  a  compromise  was  effected 
on  the  basis  of  one-half  coming  to  the  society  and  the  balance  to 

30  Memoir  of  James  Aitkin  Meigs,  by  Henry  C.  Chapman,  M.D.,  Trans. 
College  of  Phys.  Phila.,  Third  series,  v,  pp.  117-133. 

31  Biographical  Notice  of  Robert  Henry  Lamborn,  by  Carrie  S.  Aaron. 
Proc.  A.  N.  8.  Phila^  1901,  pp.  486-490. 


The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  31 

them.  A  conservative  estimate  places  the  value  of  the  Academy's 
portion  of  the  estate  at  half  a  million.  It  now  became  possible  to 
broaden  the  work  of  the  institution  in  various  ways. 

Among  the  sources  of  increase  of  the  museum  reported  by 
the  Curators  year  after  year  is  the  continued  interest  of  the  Kev. 
Dr.  L.  T.  Chamberlain,  who,  out  of  regard  for  the  memory  of  his 
father-in-law,  Dr.  Isaac  Lea,  has  furnished  cases  for  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  collection  of  fossils  associated  with  his  name.  He 
has  provided  for  its  increase  by  fitting  out  expeditions  to  the 
Eocene  and  Oligocene  deposits  of  the  South. 

Having  completed  his  fourth  year  as  President  of  the 
Academy,  General  Wistar  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Samuel  Gibson 
Dixon,  who  had  been  elected  a  member  in  1890.  Shortly  after 
his  election  he  had  resigned  his  professorship  of  Hygiene  in  the  Med- 
ical Department  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  and  trans- 
ferred his  laboratory  to  the  Academy,  where  he  continued  his 
bacteriological  researches  and  perfected  the  biological  product 
with  which  he  had  produced  immunity  to  tuberculosis  in  the  lower 
animals.32  He  had  been  elected  one  of  the  four  Curators  at  the 
annual  meeting  in  1891,  and  immediately  instituted  a  number  of 
reforms  in  the  administration  of  the  office.  He  was  appointed 
Professor  of  Bacteriology  and  Microscopic  Technology,  October  24, 
1892,  and  held  the  position  until  1896,  when  he  was  compelled  to 
relinquish  it  because  of  the  pressure  of  other  engagements. 

The  year  1896  was  made  memorable  by  the  opening  of  the 
central  section  of  the  building  and  the  consequent  improvement 
in  the  arrangement  of  the  collections. 

Notable  action  was  taken  in  May,  1899,  when  a  revision  of 
the  By-Laws  was  adopted  providing  for  important  changes  of 
administration.  Assistant  Curatorships  were  substituted  for  the 
Professorships,  the  clause  limiting  the  possible  continuous  term 
of  the  Presidency  to  four  years  was  repealed,  and  provision  was 
made  for  the  appointment  of  a  Committee  on  Accounts  in  addi- 
tion to  the  Committee  on  Finance. 

The  alteration  of  the  By-Laws  enabled  the  Academy  to  con- 
tinue Dr.  Dixon  in  the  Presidency  on  the  termination  of  his 
fourth  year  of  service,  and  he  has  since  been  re-elected  annually 
to  the  office.  He  has  also  served  continuously  as  Executive 
Curator. 


32  Medical  Neivs,  October   17,   1889. 


32  The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 

During  the  administration  of  Dr.  Euschenberger  it  had  been 
his  practice  to  read  at  the  annual  meeting  a  resume  of  the 
history  of  the  year.  These  had  been  discontinued  until  1901  when, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  new  century,  Dr.  Dixon  prepared  a  sum- 
marized account  of  the  operations  of  the  society  during  the  inter- 
vening twenty  years. 

Because  of  the  constantly  increasing  tendency  to  the  division 
of  scientific  interests  into  specialties,  the  organization  of  sections 
and  special  societies,  and  the  consequent  interference  with  attend- 
ance on  general  meetings,  an  amendment  to  the  By-Laws  was 
adopted  in  1903,  providing  for  the  holding  of  meetings  on  the 
first  and  third  Tuesdays  of  each  month  from  October  to  May, 
inclusive,  thus  reducing  the  number  of  sessions  from  fifty-two  to 
sixteen.  -.  .' 

An  appropriation  of  $20,000  from  the  State  Legislature,  in 
1905,  was  expended  in  replacing  the  roof  of  the  old  building  by 
one  which  more  effectually  safeguarded  the  collections  from  dam- 
age by  storms.  Another  appropriation  of  $150,000  received  last 
year  has  secured  the  erection  of  a  fire-proof  building  on  the 
remaining  section  of  the  lot.  In  the  rear  portion  of  the  structure 
the  library  has  been  arranged  in  five  tiers  of  steel  stacks,  while 
the  front  is  divided  into  a  lecture  hall,  and  a  reading  room  in 
connection  with  the  library. 

The  four  Departments  of  the  Academy  through  which  its 
work  is  accomplished  are  the  Library,  the  Museum,  the  Publication 
Office  and  the  Department  of  Instruction  and  Lectures. 

THE  LIBRARY 

•  The  formation  of  a  library  was  one  of  the  first  subjects  to 
engage  attention.  At  the  initial  meeting  a  committee,  consisting  of 
Dr.  Troost  and  Mr.  Shinn,  was  appointed  to  consider  "which  are 
the  fittest  periodical  works  to  engage  at  first  instance  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  society." 

No  report  seems  to  have  been  received  from  this,  the  first 
Library  Committee,  but  under  date  of  March  17,  1812,  a  memo- 
randum records  that  "Mr.  Shinn  will  accommodate  the  society  with 
the  Mineralogical  Journal  of  Dr.  Bruce;  Mr.  Parmentier,  the 
Aurora  and  a  map  of  Switzerland ;  Dr.  Mann,  the  Monthly  Maga- 
zine for  1807.  Dr.  Troost  and  Mr.  Parmentier  have  engaged  for 


The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  33 

the  use  of  the  society  the  Annales  de  Chymie  and  the  Annales  des 
Arts  et  de  Commerce.  Mr.  Shinn  is  commissioned  to  procure  for 
account  of  the  society  the  Archives  of  Useful  Knowledge  of  Dr. 
Mease  and  the  Medical  Museum  of  Drs.  Mitchell  and  Miller. 
Agreed  to  procure  the  Repertory  of  Arts  from  London."  Davy's 
London  Institution  Lectures,  Nicholson's  Journal,  Murray's, 
Thompson's  and  Davy's  Chemistrys  and  Tilloch's  Magazine  were 
suggested  as  desirable.  It  is  interesting  to  see  how  largely  the  first 
members  were  concerned  with  physics  and  chemistry,  subjects  which 
for  years  have  received  little  or  no  attention  in  the  Academy. 

The  growth  of  the  library  was  slow  until  1816  when  the  newly 
elected  President,  William  Maclure,  began  his  donations  which,  in 
1819,  had  reached  nearly  1,500  volumes.  A  portion  of  his  library 
was  transferred  from  New  Harmony  in  1834. 

A  catalogue  of  the  library  was  published  in  the  Journal  for 
1817  to  1824  when  there  seems  to  have  been  in  the  possession  of  the 
society  1,675  volumes  embracing  672  titles.  Another  catalogue  pub- 
lished in  1836  gives  the  number  of  volumes  at  6,890  of  which  5,232 
are  credited  to  Mr.  Maclure.  In  1841  the  collection  had  increased 
to  7,000.  In  May,  1845,  Dr.  Thomas  B.  Wilson  presented  Owen's 
History  of  British  Fossil  Mammalia  and  Birds  and  from  that 
date  until  his  death  in  1865,  more  than  ten  thousand  volumes  were 
given  by  him.  His  brother,  Edward  Wilson,  presented  4,184  rare 
volumes  and  pamphlets  of  the  last  century,  and  a  valuable  selection 
from  Dr.  Wilson's  library  was  received  after  his  death  from 
another  brother,  Rathmel  Wilson.  Dr.  Wilson  bequeathed  to  the 
Academy  $10,000,  the  interest  to  be  used  for  the  continuance  of 
his  subscriptions  and  as  a  contribution  toward  the  salary  of  the 
Librarian.  A  small  amount  had  been  received  from  the  sale  to  the 
Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania  of  a  collection  of  historical 
documents  given  by  Mr.  Maclure,  and  a  little  was  secured  from 
time  to  time  by  subscription  or  from  the  sale  of  duplicates,  etc.,  but 
no  permanent  endowment  was  available  until  1875  when  Isaiah  V. 
Williamson  gave  $25,000  in  ground  rents,  the  interest  to  be  expended 
for  the  purchase  of  books. 

The  John  Warner  Library  of  about  1,045  volumes  and  1,200 
pamphlets,  mostly  on  mathematics,  was  received  in  1892  and  the 
library  of  Dr.  James  Aitken  Meigs  consisting  of  5,089  volumes  was 
bequeathed  to  the  Academy  by  his  father,  together  with  $20,000,  in 
1895. 


34  The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 

The  old  hand  lists  were  replaced  in  1885  by  a  regulation  card 
catalogue  which  has  been  kept  up  to  date.  An  Assistant  Librarian 
was  appointed  in  1890.  The  library,  exclusively  for  reference,  now 
contains  about  60,000  volumes,  almost  entirely  on  the  natural 
sciences.  In  many  respects  it  is  the  most  important  collection  of 
the  kind  in  America.  It  is  especially  distinguished  for  its  complete 
sets  of  early  Journals  and  Transactions  and  for  finely  illustrated 
monographs  in  all  departments  of  zoology  and  botany.  Its  sources 
of  growth  are  the  incomes  of  the  Wilson,  the  I.  V.  Williamson  and 
the  Meigs  Funds,  supplemented  within  recent  years  by  liberal 
appropriations  from  the  treasury.  These  sums  provide  the  pro- 
prietary journals  and  works  on  general  science,  while  the  publica- 
tions of  learned  societies,  perhaps  the  most  important  part  of  the 
library,  are  secured  by  exchange  of  the  Proceedings  and  Journal. 

The  arrangement  of  the  library  has  been  considered  a  model 
of  convenience  by  all  having  occasion  to  consult  the  books.  They 
have  been  removed  to  the  new  building  where  they  are  placed  in  a 
fireproof  compartment  fitted  up  with  tiers  of  steel  stacks.  Much- 
needed  increase  of  room  has  thus  been  secured. 

THE   MUSEUM 

Mr.  Witmer  Stone,  one  of  the  Curators,  states  that  the 
Academy's  museum  to-day,  both  for  its  historic  value  and  the 
extent  of  its  collections,  is  one  of  the  most  important  in  existence. 
As  in  the  case  of  all  the  older  scientific  institutions  its  arrangement 
has  undergone  material  changes  in  the  course  of  time.  The  old 
idea  of  having  all  specimens  displayed  in  show  cases  has  been  super- 
seded by  the  establishment  of  two  distinct  collections :  an  exhibition 
series  selected  and  arranged  primarily  for  the  education  of  the  public 
and  a  study  series  compactly  arranged  in  the  laboratories  and  study 
rooms,  where  the  large  suites  of  specimens  required  in  the  work  of 
modern  specialists  may  be  accumulated  and  preserved.  Perishable 
material  which  has  but  a  comparatively  short  life  in  exhibition 
cases  is  here  preserved  from  the  ravages  of  light,  dust  and  insects. 
One  of  the  features  of  the  museum  is  the  large  number  of  type 
specimens  which  served  as  the  basis  of  the  work  of  the  eminent 
naturalists  who  have  figured  in  the  history  of  the  Academy,  access 
to  which  is  indispensable  to  the  students  of  the  present  day. 

An  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  collections  may  be  gained  from 
recent  examinations  of  the  catalogues.  The  vertebrate  animals 


The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  35 

number  about  130,000  specimens,  12,000  being  mammals,  60,000 
birds,  20,000  reptiles  and  40,000  fishes.  The  insects  are  estimated 
at  nearly  400,000  specimens  and  the  shells  at  a  million  and  one-half. 
There  are  in  the  cases  50,000  specimens  of  fossils,  30,000  minerals, 
20,000  pieces  of  archaeological  material  and  over  600,000  prepara- 
tions of  dried  plants.  Nearly  all  the  departments  are  now  in  the 
care  of  specialists  and  the  collections  are  growing  at  a  rapid  rate, 
many  of  the  study  collections  being  equal  or  superior  to  those  of 
any  other  institution  in  America. 

PUBLICATIONS 

No  one  act  of  the  society  contributed  so  much  to  its  pros- 
perity as  the  publication  of  the  Journal,  commenced  in  1817  and 
continued  at  irregular  intervals  for  a  period  of  twenty-five  years. 
The  series  consists  of  eight  octavo  volumes,  illustrated  by  litho- 
graphic and  engraved  plates,  and  contains  contributions  from 
nearly  all  the  active  naturalists  of  the  period,  who  had,  indeed, 
scarcely  any  other  avenue  of  publicity  for  the  details  of  their 
original  investigations.  The  second  series  of  the  Journal,  in 
quarto,  was  begun  in  December,  1847,  and  is  still  continued. 
Thirteen  volumes  have  been  completed.  It  contains  papers  re- 
quiring more  elaborate  illustration  than  can  be  supplied  in  the 
octavo  form,  and  the  plates  throughout  the  series  are  of  a  high 
artistic  excellence.  The  numbers,  as  issued,  are  exchanged  with 
societies  which  publish  Journals  or  Transactions  of  equal  dignity. 

The  publication  of  the  Proceedings  was  commenced  in  March, 
1841,  the  sixtieth  volume  being  now  completed.  Like  the  earlier 
Journal,  it  supplied  a  need  which  was  then  more  urgent,  as  the 
workers  were  more  numerous  than  formerly,  of  a  vehicle  of  com- 
munication with  the  scientific  world.  Continuous  memoirs  and  the 
proceedings  of  the  meetings,  including  verbal  communications 
and  comments  made  on  them,  form  the  contents.  Volumes 
iii  to  vii,  inclusive,  of  the  American  Journal  of  Conchology,  were 
published  by  the  Conchological  Section,  under  the  editorship  of 
Geo.  W.  Tryon,  Jr.,  who  had  prepared  volumes  i  and  ii  as  a  private 
enterprise.  The  Manual  of  Conchology,  also  begun  by  Mr.  Tryon, 
was  bequeathed  by  him  to  the  Conchological  Section  of  the  Academy, 
and  was  published  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Henry  A.  Pilsbry 
until  1904,  when,  on  the  dissolution  of  the  Section,  it  was  continued 
by  Dr.  Pilsbry  as  one  of  the  Academy's  publications.  Since  the 


36  The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 

death  of  Mr.  Tryon  seven  volumes  of  the  first  series  and  fifteen  of 
the  second  have  been  issued,  every  species  of  which  a  figure  can  be 
obtained  being  illustrated  by  colored  lithographic  plates. 

Since  the  formation  of  the  Entomological  Section  by  the 
union  of  the  American  Entomological  Society  with  the  Academy 
in  1875,  the  publication  of  the  Transactions  of  the  Society  has 
been  continued.  The  Entomological  News,  embracing  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Entomological  Section  was  begun  in  1890,  and  the 
nineteenth  volume  has  been  completed. 

The  several  series  of  the  publications  form  151  volumes.  The 
output  for  the  year  1908  amounted  to  1,936  pages  and  133  plates. 
It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  quantity  of  the  matter  published 
is  in  no  sense  at  the  expense  of  its  quality.  The  importance  of  the 
Academy  is  measurably  dependent  on  the  discoveries  announced  in 
its  publications.  They  are  the  organs  of  speech  of  the  society  by 
means  of  which  it  holds  communication  with  naturalists  in  all 
civilized  countries.  They  encourage  the  student  to  labor,  for 
investigation  would  be  purposeless  if  the  results  could  not  be  given 
to  the  world. 

LECTURES  AND  INSTRUCTION 

On  the  acquisition  of  the  Seybert  collection  of  minerals  in 
August,  1814,  Dr.  Gerard  Troost,  the  President,  delivered  a  course 
of  lectures  on  mineralogy.  Courses  on  entomology  were  delivered 
by  Mr.  Say  and  on  botany  by  Drs.  Waterhouse  and  Barnes.  The 
latter  were  so  successful  that  they  were  repeated  the  following  year. 
Soon  after  the  Academy's  occupancy  of  the  hall  in  Gilliams'  Court, 
Mr.  Shinn  gave  discourses  on  chemistry,  and  this  form  of  activity 
was  kept  up  until  the  removal  to  the  building  at  Twelfth  and 
George's  Streets,  twenty-five  lectures  having  been  delivered  in  1824 
by  Messrs.  Coates,  Darrach,  Gilpin,  Godman,  Griffith,  Harlan, 
Hays,  Keating,  Lea,  Mitchell,  Patterson,  Say  and  Troost.  No 
lectures  seem  to  have  been  delivered  in  the  building  at  Twelfth 
and  George's  Streets,  probably  because  of  lack  of  accommodation, 
but"  a  fine  lecture  room  was  provided  in  the  new  hall  on  Broad 
Street,  and  provision  was  made  in  1840  for  renting  the  room  to 
lecturers  on  science,  literature  and  the  liberal  arts,  on  such  terms 
as  might  be  thought  proper  by  the  Lecture  Committee.  The  use 
of  the  room  for  such  purposes  was  not  found  to  be  of  practical 
importance,  and  it  was  subsequently  appropriated  for  the  arrange- 
ment of  a  portion  of  the  collection  until  the  completion  of  another 


The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  37 

story  to  the  building  in  1855,  when  part  of  the  library  was  moved 
into  it,  and  the  weekly  meetings  were  held  there  until  the  removal 
to  South  Logan  Square. 

In  1876,  By-Laws  were  adopted  providing  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  thirteen  professors,  each  with  authority  to  appoint  one 
or  more  assistants.  'A  number  of  these  positions  were  filled  and 
acceptable  courses  of  lectures  were  delivered  by  J.  Gibbons  Hunt 
on  histology  and  microscopic  technology;  by  Henry  Carvill  Lewis, 
on  mineralogy;  by  Angelo  Heilprin,  on  invertebrate  paleontology 
and  geology;  by  Benjamin  Sharp,  on  lower  invertebrata,  and  by 
Daniel  G.  Brinton,  on  ethnology  and  archeology.  These  courses 
were  well  attended,  and  were,  under  the  energetic  management  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  McCook  as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Instruction 
and  Lectures,  productive  of  excellent  results,  but  none  of  them 
secured  sufficient  return  for  the  adequate  compensation  of  the 
professors,  and,  in  the  absence  of  endowments,  the  By-Laws 
defining  the  positions  were  subsequently  repealed. 

Courses  of  popular  evening  lectures  were  delivered  successfully 
during  the  winters  of  1887  to  1895.  In  1896  a  proposition  was 
made  by  the  Ludwick  Institute  that  the  Committee  on  Instruction 
should  cooperate  with  the  Institute  in  arranging  a  course  of  lectures 
on  natural  science  and  allied  subjects,  to  be  given  in  the  Academy's 
lecture  hall  and  to  be  free  to  the  public  though  primarily  for  the 
benefit  of  public  school  teachers,  the  Ludwick  Institute  bearing  all 
expenses.  Under  this  arrangement  six  to  eight  courses  have  been 
given  annually  by  members  of  the  society,  the  courses  for  the 
session  of  1908-1909  being  as  follows :  Seneca  Egbert,  A.M.,  M.D., 
"The  Prevention  of  Disease  and  the  Preservation  of  Health;"  J. 
Percy  Moore,  Ph.D.,  "Illustrations  of  the  Life  Histories  and  Habits 
of  the  Lower  Animals;"  Spencer  Trotter,  M.D.,  "Anthropology  and 
Ethnology;"  Henry  A.  Pilsbry,  Sc.D.,  "Shell  Fish  (Mollusks)  ;" 
Witmer  Stone,  A.M.,  "Studies  in  Local  Bird  Life ;"  T.  M.  Lightfoot, 
M.S.,  Ph.D.,  "Economic  Geology;"  Stewardson  Brown,  "Wild 
Flowers  and  Seasons;"  Henry  Skinner,  M.D.,  "Geographical  Dis- 
tribution of  Insects/' 

The  following  officers  were  elected  at  the  annual  meeting  to 
serve  during  1909 : 

President,  Samuel  G.  Dixon,  M.D.,  LL.D.;  Vice-Presidents, 
Arthur  Erwin  Brown,  Sc.D.  and  Edwin  G.  Conklin,  Ph.D.; 
Recording  Secretary  and  Librarian,  Edward  J.  Nolan,  M.D. ;  Cor- 

310140 


38  The  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 

responding  Secretary,  J.  Percy  Moore,  Ph.D.;  Treasurer,  George 
Vaux,  Jr. ;  Curators,  Arthur  Erwin  Brown,  Sc.D. ;  Samuel  G.  Dixon, 
M.D.,  LL.D.,  Henry  A.  Pilsbry,  Sc.D.,  Witmer  Stone,  A.M. ;  Coun- 
cillors to  serve  three  years,  Charles  B.  Penrose,  M.D.,  Charles 
Morris,  Henry  Tucker,  M.D.,  Spencer  Trotter,  M.D. ;  Committee 
on  Accounts,  Charles  Morris,  Samuel  1ST.  Ehoads,  Dr.  C.  Newlin 
Peirce,*  John  G.  Eothermel  and  Howard  Crawley,  Ph.D. 

The  remaining  Councillors  are  as  follows: — 

Two  Tears. — Thomas  H.  Fenton,  M.D.,  John  Cadwalader, 
Edwin  S.  Dixon,  Henry  Skinner,  M.D. 

One  Year.—Dr.  C.  Newlin  Peirce,*  Philip  P.  Calvert,  Ph.D., 
Thomas  Biddle,  M.D.,  Frederick  Prime. 

The  Academy  is  approaching  its  centenary.  For  nearly  one 
hundred  years  its  progress  has  been  steady  and  progressive  and 
during  all  that  time  its  resources  have  been  employed  exclusively  for 
the  intellectual  advancement  of  mankind  in  connection  with  the  work 
of  unselfish  and  devoted  men.  Its  influence  has  not  been  local  but 
has  been  exerted  wherever  scientific  research  is  cultivated.  With 
greatly  increased  resources  and  with  improved  methods  of  adminis- 
tration its  honorable  record  will  assuredly  be  maintained  as  the 
years  go  on. 

*  Since  deceased. 


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